The discrepancies between staff and students’ perceptions of feedback and assessment practices: analysis of TESTA data from one HE institution

Pazio, Monika
(2016)
The discrepancies between staff and students’ perceptions of feedback and assessment practices: analysis of TESTA data from one HE institution.
Practitioner Research in Higher Education, 10
(1).
pp. 91-108.

Abstract

Students’ satisfaction with feedback and assessment has historically been low. This is confirmed by the most recent National Student Survey where feedback and assessment still remain the area of least satisfaction. Such projects as Transforming the Experience of Students through Assessment (TESTA) attempt to tackle the issue by providing a channel of communication between staff and students at the programme level. This paper reports on the results of the University of Greenwich version of TESTA and identifies points of tension between staff perceptions of their practice, and students’ perceptions of their assessment experience. Using cross-institutional data we identify common themes where the discrepancies between accounts affecting satisfaction rates emerge, i.e. quantity and quality of feedback, assessment loading and clarity of goals and standards, and provide our impartial explanation of the sources of those discrepancies.